In October 2007, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) announced the establishment of a Trans-Federal Task Force on Optimizing Biosafety and Biocontainment Oversight. This task force's role was to undertake an intensive analysis of the current framework of biosafety and biocontainment oversight of high- and maximum-containment research on hazardous biological agents and toxins, with the goal of exploring strategies to address concerns voiced by Congress and the general public. The task force was chaired jointly by HHS and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The task force conducted a comprehensive assessment of the current biosafety/biocontainment oversight framework for these facilities and activities in all sectors; developed specific objectives for improving the current biosafety/biocontainment oversight framework; and developed options and recommendations for achieving the objectives. It is the expectation of the task force that these recommendations will lead to the development and implementation of an optimized framework for biosafety and biocontainment oversight.

A PDF version of the task force's final report can be viewed by clicking on the link below.

Report of the Trans-Federal Task Force on Optimizing Biosafety and Biocontainment Oversight